When You’re Really Down on Yourself

It was a long day with a longer to do list. I was chipping away at it, but running out of emotional and physical steam.

What I needed was tea…a large sweet tea…without ice.

No need wasting space with frozen water.

I hopped in the car and headed to Chick-fil-A.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I heard a noise that made my stomach churn.

Flap. Flap. Flap.

I got my tea from the cheery gal at the window, and headed to a parking space.

“Excuse me ma’am,” the perky blonde called out behind me. “Did you know you have a flat tire?”

“Yep,” I replied. “Just figured that out.”

So what. I had a flat tire. That’s not a very exciting blog post.

But it was what happened next that I want to share with you.

I pulled into a parking space.
Called AAA.
Pulled up a book on my iPhone Kindle App.
Waited for Alfredo.
Sipped on my tea.

Two hours later I left the Chick-fil-A parking lot and headed home.

Here’s what I didn’t do.
I didn’t cry.
I didn’t fuss at God.
I didn’t fall apart because the air in my schedule leaked out with the air in my tire.

And that, my friend, was reason to celebrate!

See, my default mode would have been to do all three: cry, fuss at God, and fall apart.
Then go home in a bad mood for my husband to endure.

That would have been my natural response. My knee-jerk reaction. My default mode.

But not today.

So I celebrated that one moment of that one day when I responded well.

Driving back home, and thinking about this one small attitudal victory (I know attitudal isn’t a word, but it should be) I thought about a passage in the Bible I had just studied. (This is when son in his teenage years would roll his eyes and say, “Do you have to relate everything to the Bible?” Well, yeah. I guess I do.)

In 1 Samuel 14, King Saul and his men were battling the Philistines. His son, Jonathan, and his armor bearer left 600 soldiers relaxing under a pomegranate tree and went up to face their enemies alone. The duo killed about twenty men in an area of about a half an acre. Then God threw the Philistines into confusion and they started killing each other. It was a small victory, but a victory none-the-less.

But rather than celebrate the win, Saul made a decree that the men couldn’t eat until they achieved total victory. Total. All the enemies destroyed.

Jonathan didn’t get the memo about the moratorium on food. And as the army walked through the woods, he dipped his staff in a honeycomb and had a sweet treat. His eyes brightened, and he was refreshed. The other men were weak from hunger, and in no condition to fight.

Jonathan’s dad was furious. Almost killed the boy. Almost lost the war. He was not a good king.

Oh friend, too many of us are waiting until we have total victory in our lives before we celebrate.

We wait for perfection, which will never come.

We beat up on ourselves for our missteps and mishaps. All the while we miss dipping into the honeycomb of celebration that God provides.

You’ll never have total victory this side of heaven, but you will have some.
Many of them, as-a-matter-of-fact.

Don’t miss them!
See them!
Seize them!
Celebrate them!

Celebrate the times when you don’t yell at the kids. Hurray!

Celebrate the times when you don’t respond to the sarcastic cashier with a sarcastic word right back. Praise God!

Celebrate the times when you don’t fall apart because your schedule does. Do the happy dance!

Celebrate the times when you didn’t eat that extra bowl of ice cream. You go girl!

Celebrate the times when you stump your toe and don’t say a curse word. Well praise God for that!

Pick up the honeycomb. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Pat yourself on the back.

Raise your hand in a high five.

Give yourself a thumbs up.

God is changing you, transforming you, and re-making you everyday. Celebrate the progress.

And even though you may not respond to all of life’s foibles and fallouts in a God-honoring way, take a moment to celebrate the times you do.

I know this is not one of those heart-rending blogs that leave you grabbing for a tissue. But sometimes we simply need to lighten up. I hope I’ve helped you do that today. If I have, then I’ll be celebrating with a happy dance of my own.

So let’s party. Tell me one situation over the past week where you responded well to a difficult situation. It doesn’t have to be big.

I’ll randomly pick a name from the comment and send a Starbuck’s gift card.

Today is the day I was to pick up the programs for our upcoming day with Sharon as our guest speaker. When I arrived at the printers they could not find the copies of our program or our originals. After an hour of searching, I asked if a new original could be emailed so that they could get the stuff printed before tomorrow. All the way home I asked God for a phone call saying they had found our copies. YES !! My husband had just received a call saying the lost was found and another lady from our park was bringing them back for me. She was our Angel for the day, as the copies were found included in her box of printing.

Oh my, you have no idea how much I needed this. I don’t want to go into detail, but the last 15 years have been filled with turmoil. I am thankful that today, I held my tongue more than usual in a very stressful moment. Trying to get better in that area. Just keep me in your prayers. It’s difficult when others are blaming you for the choices they made.

Over the last three hundred and seventy three days I’ve lost four members of my family. I’ve felt like what have I done to render this on myself. ….. The last person living in The Homestead that still has $ owing , that my name Is also listed on decided to move out about a week ago with one days notice. I am trusting God to help me through this instead of freaking out. God is good, it is what it is and He will help me through it !

Someone hurt my daughter and I never respond well when one of my children are hurt. I want to fight! This time I simply called him a “person” and told her I wanted to stay right with God about it. Small victory for me and a much better example for her. I it spoke a message to her.

I was having dinner at a friends home, the conversation of my youngest grown adult 27!yr old son living at home came up. He is a hard worker, does well ,he has a g/ f and we enjoy a mother/son relationship . I am single/divorced mother that loves her children very much. I have nor other family but my children. Anyways, it was brought up that children should be kicked to the curb after a certain age. I looked at my friend, said if the conversation continued I would go home. I could have said a lot about my feeling towards my friends family but I kept the bridle on my tongue. God and my family , church family and friends are my leaning post in this upside world. God understands ,

Couldn’t agree more!! – I’ve been doing this for years and it really works, more women should do this. Often we are the only ones who can congratulate ourselves because no-one else knows the battle we’ve overcome.

I’m in PA. Masdive snow storms here this past weekend. I got stuck at work from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. I didn’t whine or complain; I just made the best of it and tried to lighten things for my co-worker who is new to the job and got stuck as well. We are direct care workers for people with disabilities. It was just us all weekend. She thanked me for helping her to keep her sanity!

I’m laughing this morning at how the Lord provides. I blew it for the last two days with eating junk and normally berate myself about that. This morning, I was about to start reviewing my failure and made the decision to think about all of the times I made great choices all the other days. Then I read this devotional and I felt for sure that Jesus himself was hugging me and saying, “You got this girl!” Thank you for your faithfulness and for reminding me to celebrate more!

Car trouble for the second time in two weeks. The first time I gave the worry of the bill over to God and He paid it ($743). Helped us find the money because we aren’t using the credit card this year but paying it off instead. First test for that second week of January! 🙂

One week, one day later, brake light came on and had to change plans to take car back in. Gave issue to God instead of worrying because now we didn’t have an extra cushion of money to pay another bill.

Didn’t get mad about the change of plans (had to cancel coffee with a friend), didn’t worry about the situation (praised God ahead of time that He took care of it already). Found out it was an error on their part, they fixed it for FREE and I even got an extra bonus. My husband came home from work early to help me go pick up the car, so we got a half day date without the kids! 🙂

Thank you so much for your words.I so needed to hear that. I continuously beat myself up for not getting it right every time. I battle with eating too many sweets. The other night I passed up eating some candy that I knew I didn’t need to eat. I know that may seem trivial to some but it was a small victory for me.

My husband left the girls and I over 1year ago. Since last March, I have only gotten 3 child support payments. Yesterday, he went back to court again. Now, I see another court date for March. Really upsetting but yesterday just said I give it to you God. Really nothing else I can do. I didn’t get upset. Then guess what happen last night?? A friend called and had 3 boxes of food(bacon, cookies, broccoli, etc) Wow, God provides.

When my six year old was angry at me for an unknown reason, I responded with love. My old self would have become angry or sarcastic. But with God’s Grace, He opens my eyes to see that anger often means the other person is hurting. My baby calmed down quickly after I took the time to stop and listen.

Within a month’s time frame, I have had nothing but car trouble. From my head lights going out, next my brake’s went bad, then on top of that an oil leak! This is not the time for myself and fiance’ to be pouring money into car repair. We are getting married in July and it seems like the money we are saving for our wedding is going towards rainy days 🙁 I was definitely beating myself up about it. But my fiance’ had to remind me some things just happen that we can’t change. Then I had to take a moment and Thank God that I still have a car. It could have been worst and I’d be without a vehicle all together. I will celebrate that! Thank you Lord!

Great post Sharon thank you for sharing your heart. I have grown up in the Lord so so much recently I have a little happy dance of victory almost every day. I speak kindness to my kids instead of condemnation, I cry out to God in prayer instead of just crying and I love my unbelieving hubby for who God sees him as instead of what he’s not. I have hope instead of despair. It’s an every day decision but so worth it. God is so good to his children. <3

This year I have decided to try really hard to eat healthier. There have been many opportunities to eat “junk” and somehow God has given me the willpower to finally say no and I feel great about those mini victories

I love your writing style, your articles always speak to my heart. The only thing is,… is there a way to change
The font – The size is very small 🙁
I believe probably a large amount of people read on their iPhones smart phones etc.

Yesterday I was having female problems. My back and tummy was hurting…you get the point lol. So I wore my little pink jogging suit to work. I thought it was cute and it was comfy. Well my co-workers didn’t apparently. As I was walking past a group of them I heard a whisper and I turn around to catch one,who I thought was a friend, laughing at me. It really hurt my feelings and my reaction would be to smart off…but I kept walking and said nothing. I wanted to say something so bad but I’m glad now that I didn’t.

My daughter told me at 9pm that she needed blueberry muffins for the next morning at school. Normally I would give her
a lecture for waiting so long to tell me.
She was studying Happiness. she had
to bring in a food that brought good
memories from the past. That would
have defeated the purpose of the assignment.

My son wanted to wash the pan that was in the sink..wonderful!! He proceeded to get water ALL OVER while doing it. Instead of getting on him about what a mess he was making I just let him go. He did dry and clean up everything when he was done Yippee. I then told him that I didn’t think the kitchen had ever been cleaner.

I had a car accident recently in which I rear ended a lady and my car has been totaled. One of the girls at my work wanted to know what I did, I told her I prayed. She said, “you didn’t cry? Or get upset or mad?” I said, “no, I prayed and thanked God that we weren’t injured badly and that there were no other people involved, just her and I” it’s really funny looking back because I wasn’t even scared. I had given it all to God and I was calm and at peace with the situation. I still am. I may not have a car at the moment but I know in the right timing I will and I’m okay. God has provided me with someone to help until that time comes. Praise the Lord!!

I am a social worker in a nursing home. These last two weeks have come up with many issues where I come home and let out my breath. I know God works through me because people say I have such a calm patience…What? All I can say is God is Awesome!

Congrats to Lynn on winning the book!! Change isn’t easy for me…so at work there was a change in my schedule I didn’t agree with. But I did well to not hang on to the problem of not agreeing and said ok…move on 🙂 big accomplishment…I usually stew on it for a while 🙂

This is so timely for me since I have been stressed out lately due to some family issues. However, after our Pastor’s sermon this past Sunday on how words effect people, I decided to try and hold my tongue more. The result was two great days!
Also, love the Sweet Tea and atmosphere at CFA, so much so I’ve been working at one near my house since October! Best job ever!
God Bless

The celebration must be about the Holy Spirit’s power which gives us victory over sin. It is not for us to pat ourselves on the back, but to give God the glory. Only Jesus Christ can change our hearts, our attitudes, and our actions and we must point to Him, and Him alone, in these victories.

Oh Renee, I pray that you will celebrate the victories. Of course it is God who gives us the strength, but He does long for us to see the small steps and celebrate. I hope that you will join the angels in celebrating the victories. Yes, God gives you the power. He gives all of us the power. But it is a celebration when we choose to plug in to that power. It is always a choice and today, we are celebrating the times when we have chosen to obey and react in a God honoring way.

Held my tongue when my husband raged about a piece of broken machinery and was lashing out at me. Then when he gave up and went to go call the mechanic, i quietly went back outside and fixed the machine myself. I thanked God for His guidance that day. God is healing me and changing me one day at a time.. Yay! Thank you Lord.

After twenty plus years of teaching fifth and sixth graders, I am much better at dealing with emotional kids and emotional parents. I think before I respond, get my own tongue under control, and rely on God to use me in that particular situation. All of that sounds like I should get it right all the time……which I do not. But my awesome God does!! Blessings to you, Sharon!! Thanks for your ministry.

My 22-yr-old dghtr called last week from school just needing to vent and I let her. I was a listening ear, as she had asked for. I didn’t immediately start in with a lecture or list of criticisms. We both felt great when we hung up!!!

This is a great affirmation for what I’ve been doing…celebrating my small victories. Just yesterday, the last of 4 snow days here in PA with my 3 teens all home for fun and madness, I managed to lovingly remind my son that he is a “child of God” when he repeatedly instigated entanglements with his sisters. There were consequences, but the drama and negativity ended there and I didn’t feel shredded. Praise God for small victories!!! 2 hour delay this morning and back to school…Hooray! Haha

I received a nasty, mean and (could’ve been) hurtful note from someone yesterday. After reading it, I threw it the trash and said a prayer for peace over the person who wrote it and decided to not respond at all. Today, continuing to pray for my enemies instead of retaliating.

It’s raining today. I dislike driving in the rain. Today, rather than complain and feel sorry for myself I sang along with Mandisa and we Overcame the traffic together. The bonus was my children started singing along too.

My daughter used the good bananas for baking that were for a birthday party instead of the old ones! 🙂 I did not yell, instead I said God please help me not to yell & He did! 🙂 I instead said it’s ok, you didn’t know…..thanks for this Starbucks gift card opportunity 😉

This week in Pennsylvania we received over two feet of snow and my husband was called into work for overtime so Saturday I had a plan to spend the day in the kitchen cooking but unfortunately Mother Nature threw a curveball in that plan. Normally I would have been upset that I had to take the time out to go out get dressed in five layers and remove all the snow but for some reason that day I didn’t mind as much. I don’t know if it was the great music on Pandora or the fact that I knew that I had to get the snow removed so that my husband to come home.

Additionally I spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening cutting up onions and a bunch of vegetables for the soups and casseroles my husband and I had planned to make that weekend. I had made 18 quarts of soup and set it aside until Sunday to put in containers and put in the freezer. On Sunday when we sat down for dinner to have some of the soup we realize that there was something dreadfully wrong with the soup. I realize that I had screwed up one of the ingredients which completely ruins the entire batch of soup all 18 quarts of it have to be done now. But for some reason I was fairly calm and just resigned to the fact that I had to start all over again. I did remake the soup yesterday and my husband said it was better than the first batch that I made so that was a blessing.

My husbands job is mostly commission based. He told me last night that next month is going to be tight because he had a rough month this month. (He gets paid a month out)
Instead of freaking out like I normally do, I thanked God for all the times he supplied for us when we were in need.

Left the neighbors house and came home Saturday. My step daughter and her mother, my husband and her husband were there. At first everything was fine. Then the ex wife told me she heard I was raising hell at my husband for her calling. My husband says, Lisa just says Valerie on phone. But it didn’t stop. She and the step daughter went off on me. The husband was embarrassed and no one could speak. God gave me peace. I let Jesus fight my battles for me. Even though it did hurt my feelings a little I got over it fast because Jesus is in control. Not me. Praise God

I was out snow she in and when I got back I realized I had lost my keys somewhere along my way. I am currently going through a hard time and would normally have panicked and cried my eyes out but I kept my self together and retraced my tracks and found them.

Yesterday I stopped for gas at a self service. I filled my tank and waited for the receipt to print. “See attendant for receipt” was all I got. Now I absolutely hate to go into the store to get a receipt and think they should pay more attention to the tape running out in the pumps. That is why I pay ” at the pump”, don’t want to go in. I stormed in the store and waited while three employees finished their conversation before helping me. I was well put out by now. But God intervened and I just politely asked for my receipt and left. Why I didn’t blast them for their lack of service I can only say God indeed closed my mouth because I have fussed at that store about having to come in for a receipt in a he past. I suddenly relized it may but not be their fault and their lack of courtesy is due to poor upbringing. I thanked God for not blowing up. A victory!!

Kathy, that is a victory! I’ve been right there with you seeing that message. I’m so proud of you for holding your tongue. What a great perspective. Doing the happy praise God dance with you! Thumbs up!

Teenage daughter very sassy and this time I stayed calm and didn’t allow her to get me all riled up To the point where I end up in a bad mood and husband has to deal with me. Thanking God for the moments like that.

Woke up, yet again at 3:30 this morning. Got up and put the time to use….worked out, studied God’s word and prepared for the day. Things always seem to go smoother when I allow God to shape the day….hard but true lesson. Thankful to ease into this day, Amen!

Wow what a message!!! Wish I could have read this before my crisis its a little embarrassing. I was using the little girls room when my car key flopped out and into the toilet ### tears and other things I won’t mention happened. Very expensive mishap! But god is still working on my heart and trying to teach me . I was blessed to read this message thank you. Chrissy Marco

Oh girl. I ran to the restroom right before I was to go on stage to speak. The mic, which was hooked to my pants, fell in the toilet. Of course the battery was wet and it wouldn’t work. I sheepishly ran to the sound man and said, I’m sorry, this got wet. To which he replied, “Got wet?” Yeah, don’t ask. Praise God I got someone else’s mic really quick. I think Gwen had to sing an extra song! So hurray that you didn’t fall apart!

This isn’t a real big thing…but last week I got my car insurance bill. No big thing. I get them twice a year. But they raised the price…again…grrrrr. But I didn’t get upset. I didn’t cry. I didn’t yell. I didn’t call them. I just let it go. It wasn’t a big deal but in the scheme of things, isn’t it the little things that add up to the big things in life. A lot of little disappointments. A lot of little problems, troubles & worries. They add up. And they chip away at your self-esteem & well-being. At least they do for me. But I just keep saying, “TRUST in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Barnes and Noble is a favorite place for me to stop by and get some work done, read, or on occasion, sip a Starbucks. I ordered a journal online, and was told that my Educator’s Discount would be given to me, if I just took my receipt to the nearest store. After receiving my journal, I went to the store, only to have a really grouchy customer service lady tell me that college instructors do not get the discount. I told her I had one, and she could find me with my phone number. She sighed heavily, put in my number, and said, “NOPE… told you that you do not get a discount.” Instead of arguing, or insisting I get the discount, I calmly told her, “Okay, not a big problem. I’ll just keep the journal and not worry about this. I teach stress management at a community college, so I REALLY should practice what I preach!” She smiled, and appeared to relax. When I turned around, (and I’m not even kidding), a current student said, “Hi Dr. Ball! Way to practice what you preach!” I immediately smiled inside and outside, thanked God for the inconvenience, and praised Him for the opportunity to model good behavior. $3.00 savings missed… bummer… God’s timing… priceless1

That’s really cool. I sing in a praise team at my church. Recently, at a restaurant, something very stressful happened and the server really took a bad attitude with me. I simply smiled and said, “it’s okay. I don’t mind waiting. Thank you. If you need me to keep this order, I don’t mind eating it. I’m sure it’s good, too.” The server looked up at me and said, “Don’t you go to Temple Baptist Church? I’ve seen you on TV when I watch that church in Hattiesburg. You sing really well. ” Wow, I could have been really busted if I would have given in to the stress. Instead, peace won. Whew!

I waited three days for my husband to water some flowers I have a hard time watering . As you know we women don’t like to wait to get something done.So on the third day I got the ladder and I
could water one fairly well.He was sitting in the living room and he could see what I was doing.When I got to the one that is really hard to water I said honey this one is really hard for me
to water.He got up watered the plants and put the ladder up. So I celebrate not getting mad because he didn’t do it when I wanted it done. Thank You Sweet Jesus for changing my heart a little at a time.

Talk about God working so strongly in my life!! I came to NY to visit my children and grandson and for the first time stayed the entire two weeks with my daughter!! Now mind you she certanly is not the housekeeper of the year, (although she was not raised this way, and her housekeeping habits have been many a problem between us in the past, On the flight down I prayed and asked God to refrain me from getting angry and frustrated with her , and most of all Judgemental. Well, God is good and He helped me hold my tongue and reminded me that she too has been going through a difficult time (I lost my oldest daughter a year ago, her big sissy) and to remember that she is a single mom, doing a great job, and without a lot of support from me (because I live in Florida). Well we have had the best two weeks we have had in years!! and She even allowed me to clean the stove and refrigerator!! and the time with my five year old grandson has been priceless!! Sharon, when I came here, it was with a heavy heart because of the approaching anniversary of my eldest daughter’s death. Then tragedy struck when my 34 year old son lost a very dear friend in a house fire, and she left behind two sons, 14 and 3 years old. He has been so heartbroken, but now is helping the grandmother (the girls mother) to gain custody of the 3 year old, God bless him, he hired her an attorney. The older boy went to live with his dad in Indiana. My son told me yesterday he wasn’t glad that his friend died, but because of her drug addiction, he understands that God allowed this tragedy to take her out of that bad place she was in, and he knows in his heart, she is better off. (He always feared one day the drugs would take her, and it was destroying her ability to be a good mom), so now he knows that he must protect the younger boy and help her mom with the custody battle (the father has never been in this child’s life, he doesn’t even know him), and I am so proud of my son’s heart. And to hear him accept God’s planning and accept his purpose, even through the tragedy tells me that my son is learning that God is real. I do speak to both of my children about my relationship with jesus, and what he wants from us and for us, and they both are beginning to see that it IS real. Sharon, I came here and wanted to be able to ask for God’s wisdom and discernment for my life, for my choices, because I have been so unhappy in Florida, and with my relationship with my husband, Three and half years ago, I was a different woman, and so confused and I fell in love with a man who I thought was something very different, and I was vulnerable and at a place in my life where I had enough, so I divorced my Husband (who was a horrible alcoholic and controlling) , and gave up a secure job, and walked away from everything I knew for a “fresh” start. Well, that was a grave mistake, and after having to battle cancer, go back and forth between NY and Florida (trying to appease everyone), and especially being there for my daughter as she was dying (she was sick fo r16 years, and in a nursing home) Losing her was so difficult. I Came to know Jesus during these three years, and each day a better understanding of his love for me proves to me what a special child of God I truly am, that I can forgive myself for the past, and those I hurt. and that I can move forward because I trust GOD FIRST, and I know that with Christ IN ME, I can do ALL THINGS. I know this is long, I am so sorry. I have made the decision to move back home to NY and that there truly is no place like home and this IS where MY Heart is..My children need me, and my family is all here, and there is nothing like family Sharon. I do have a nice church family Sharon,, and the people I have met have been wonderful, But I also have met some pretty mean spirited people, who claim to be christians…which has been very disheartening to me Sharon. You Know, my friends here aren’t all believer’s , but they do all have good hearts, and they accept me for who I am, and have always been there for me, no critisizims, no judgments, and I do not ever feel convicted by them. I do however feel that way in Florida with the “so called christians”, so I truly will always keep my relationship with Jesus FIRST, and I go to a lovely church up here, and I have to say, the people here seem to be much warmer and I feel as they are “real” I thank God that he answered my prayers and helped me and my daughter find one another again, that I was here for my son when he had to face such a heartbreak , and that he allowed the distance and time for me to find peace within my spirit, and make the choice I have made because I looked to HIM FIRST. So tomorrow I will fly back to Florida, and sit with my husband and we will talk, as he does believe (but did not do so until I took him to church with me), however, I have to say it will be a difficult conversation, because I know he does love me but I also know he doesn’t want the same things as I do. His desire is to return to the Western part of NY to “get to know his daughter again”, the one he walked away from over 20 years ago when she was 8 years old. He has his own issues to battle, along with honesty (He never was completely honest with me about many things , I had to find them out the hard way when I gave everything up to move to Florida to be with him) so I am asking God to guide me, and give me the right words, the wisdom to get through this transition. and I know he will do that for me. The Best thing about my move to Florida has been falling in love with Jesus, and getting have a growing personal relationship with him. I have learned that I am nothing without him, and I can do nothing without him. So, for that I will always be thankful, despite the dark times, the struggles, the heartbreaks and hurting , the best part of it all has been my relationship with Jesus!! I know now that wherever God puts me, and whatever transpires in my life, it will be HIS WIILL AND TIMING, and I will accept whatever his plans for me are. Because I have recurring Ovarian Cancer (currently no sign of disease), I am told that I may not survive past five years, but I am trusting in the ultimate healer, my almighty God, he healed me two years ago, Keeping his promise to me that I be able to be with my daughter as she left this world for his, so she could have her mama with her; and I know that in his mercy, he will bring me back home, to my children, and family and he will always go before me. Today and everyday I am thankful for all of his blessings, and I will never ever stop thanking and praising him!! He not only saved me from cancer, and a hurting relationship with my daughter, but he saved me from myself!! Glory be God..the almighty I AM!!

My husband didn’t get great news about a job. Instead of bringing him down and telling how unfair it was… I decided to be encouraging to him. I told him that job wasn’t the one God had planned for him. It felt a whole better than telling him how unfair it was that he didn’t get the job. He agreed and said we are so thankful for how God supplies his love for us.

Trusted God with a $200 decision and didn’t freak out. I sell Jamberry Nail Wraps and I had signed up for a big vendor event. I had bought a lot of inventory for this event as well as a commitment to buy a table for $200.00. I live on the East Coast where the major storm was coming in. I kept watching the storm and hearing nothing about what will the sponsors do. I first started to get very nervous, but this time I quickly looked up to God and said this is your money and your event. He kept me calm and stress free. That was a big deal for me because of so much money on the line. It was great feeling that peace and looking at something very different on the weather channel. They eventually changed the date on the event, but a big victory for me because I didn’t get completely stressed out and I got to watch God intervene and take care of the situation. Praising God for small victories when He helps me stay focused and at peace.

While being snowed in, we went thru my 10 year old daughter’s room. She is a hoarder and I have a TERRIBLE habit of just shutting the door & ignoring it (no, I am not proud of this fact). The reason I do this is because when I go in there I leave the room out of anger & frustration after having yelled at her the whole time I just give up. I tell myself over & over if as an adult I am overwhelmed & don’t know where to start, how can she possibly know what to do. I made up my mind we were going to get thru it & get it done as a positive experience. No anger, no tears, no frustration. So we spent 2 solid days going thru EVERYTHING & we actually enjoyed it. We giggled & kept it very positive. She is so excited. She said over and over “Now I can invite a friend over”. I am SOOOO ashamed that I allowed it to get to this place & didn’t exhibit the proper behavior, but am so thankful that by the help & grace of God it was a positive experience and not hurtful.

And I just want to thank you for this post. Instead of feeling victorious of this, I continued to beat myself up and belittle myself for not having done this sooner and focused on all the negative aspects. Though they are true, seeing the positive side was much better 🙂 THANK YOU

QUITE THE FREEDOM!!!!!! Her excitement over being able to invite a friend over thrilled me and broke my heart all at the same times. Thankfully after this blog I’m only going to be thrilled & rejoice. Stepping stone, not stoning!!!! Thanks Lucy

When my daughter was little we had the same problem. I would send her to clean up her room and she would just sit there. I gradually discovered that she wasn’t being stubborn she was overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. I started telling her to pick up one group of items at a time, such as – go pick up all of your dolls. When I broke it down and she only had to look at one group at a time, it became much easier and was much less stressful. Maybe that would help. I do understand your frustration.

Thank you so much, Annette. That is basically what we did together. We are also purchasing totes for designated items & doing away with the bottomless pit of a toy box. She promised to do daily 15 minute pick-ups and I agreed to do inspections after. 🙂 I sincerely appreciate your suggestions & understanding <3

Oh how I am learning that the small victories are notes from our Father, what brightens my day and keeps me going.
I am thanking God this day for you and your words of encouragement. Thank you Sharon!!

I struggle in the area of finance. My husband didn’t receive his full check this week. God brought back to my rememberance the song we sang Sunday morning by Gary Oliver- More Than Enough and He helped me to realize that we were caught up on the bills. So, instead of getting nervous and upset, I thank God for His peace! He is faithful, He is more than enough, and He is my provider!

Dropping off car rental at airport with my niece but we had not coordinated if we were going to return the car at Terminal A or Terminal B. Well she was in one terminal and I in the other waiting and waiting; she tells me “how can you not see me” I say I cannot find you and have gone around in circle three times so I pulled the car aside and took a deep breath before I spoke. You see my niece had not idea you could return the cars in either terminal although I knew that I did not throw it in her face. I calmly asked her to inquire which terminal did she return – instantly resolved. I am proud that I did not lose it.

I’ve been dealing with a work injury for almost a year. I’ve been without income for almost 2 months. I’m in my 50’s and divorced with ailing parents and my children grown and life of their own. Life has been extremely hard these past few years. I got bad news the other day on top of all this, well several pieces of bad news really, one just a few days ago. The normally for me is to feel defeated and break down. I’ve been trying to seek the Lord when I arise and continue all day and when I lay my head to rest I seek him still. Instead of letting the feeling of defeat pull me under the waves smashing against me, I didn’t. The first thing I did was go to God and ask Him to take whats happening and turn it into glory for Him. I’m learning to completely trust Him in all things even when the storms of life seem too much. I raised my hands in praise too Him and told the devil my hope lies within the arms of my Father. Its a small victory for me but its a beginning to a better place. Thank you for sharing that story Sharon it is encouraging too know I’m not alone.

Our son and daughter in law are preparing to move into a new rental house. Things have not gone as planned; plans are made with my husband and me on hold to help, and then they change. Jay and I have cooked meals for them that they haven’t shown up to eat….on and on and on. Usually, I would snap and say, “Whit, we have been waiting for days, and wasted our time doing nothing! Blah, blah, …”. This time, I just said, “We are here for you, son. I know that this is frustrating, but we will be here when you need us! And dad and I will pack the leftover food for lunches for work tomorrow! It’s ok! I love you!”. Well, later that night, we both got the sweetest text from our son which said,”I really appreciate you two as my parents. Y’all have been so supportive and helpful with all this stuff lately. Y’all are great and I don’t know what I would do without you!” Patience, love and a big hand over my mouth really kept the peace!

Really enjoy your honesty. We have all been in those difficult spots and sometimes we respond well and sometimes we don’t.
Definitely need to celebrate the good times.
Thank you for bringing that to the forefront.
We usually are way to hard on ourselves and need to be reminded we are not perfect yet.

This word expert can never resist checking the dictionary: the “real” word is *attitudinal*, so you weren’t too far off.

I’ve taken lately to celebrating small victories with a literal pat on my own back (good stretching exercise, too!), and I’ve had several this past week in the “avoid fattening foods” category: not touching the last brownie at the NAMI meeting; ordering grilled salmon without sauce as a main course (it was mouth-watering, too!); settling for half a cornbread at the salad bar. I think I cut my personal average for restaurant-and-snack-table calories by at least 30 percent.

I told someone something in confidence and asked them not to share it yet and they did so I had to decide if I wanted to get upset and angry like I deserved to or let it roll off my back and let the person know it was ok and that’s what I did…with Gods peace I let them know it was ok and I wasn’t mad!

I had to speak to someone this past Monday on the phone about something. This person usually gets very loud with me when I talk to them about a certain subject. I usually retaliate back at them. But on Monday When they were loud with me I didn’t respond in a negative way back to this person. I spoke calmly and kept my peace and it calm them down as well. Thank you for writing this post so I can know to celebrate my victory on Monday and any other time. Thank you

Thank you for the timely blog. I was literally just kicking myself for missing an opportunity to minister to a hurting sister this week, and failing to follow through on a phone call to a friend in need.
I know to celebrate the victories, regardless of size. Yet I was still kicking away, ignoring the other acts of service and care I’ve done this week.

Thank you for the reminder. His grace is sufficient for all my needs, especially when I fumble the ball and miss His play.

I just love your GIG devotions and then I see one just from you and I get really excited because I know it is going to be good and I am never disappointed. God has truly blessed you to be able to help all these women! My husband is currently in Peru on a mission trip and every time he goes on one of these trips, something terrible happens! We know Satan does not want other people to know about Jesus and accept Him into their hearts and he will do literally anything and everything to discourage those who have a desire in their hearts to go! More and more, Jesus has been with me and has encouraged me beyond measure to get into His book and find more precious promises about who I really am in Him and as much as I love my husband, Jesus has to be my all in all! I have really struggled to come to terms with this, but each time my husband is gone, I get the same message! Imagine that?! Jesus wants me to have an up-close, personal, intimate relationship with Him and He truly works in my heart. Thanks for listening and being so positive and encouraging! My week just gets better and better! Not to be selfish, but I hope I win the Starbucks gift card!

God helped me recover “very fast” from a complete melt down that i had this week! He renewed my strength and gave me a dip from the honeycomb after the fact and what a great feeling it was! Usually i am left depressed for weeks after the melt down and the “so called stressors of life that go along with being a small business owner! I have to remember to take lots of “dips” to keep me sane sometimes! Thank you God for giving me those little dips to renew me to be more like you! Thank you Sharon for this positive post this morning! It is awesome to get something positive out of life’s teachable moments!

Thank you so much! I truly needed this today. I strive for perfection. I don’t know why??? I am very hard on myself & when things do not go has planned, well… I mentally beat myself up. I am going to try a lot harder to celebrate the small accomplishments & forget complete perfection.

I thank God,for reminding me this today. It been hard here lately.I have to work on this everyday, let us not go weary, in what we do for God.It reminds me that I have adjustment in my attitude in gratitude. I notice the difference in me, when I do that. It makes life lighter and the weigh isn’t for me carry. It says 1 Peter 5:7 CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON HIM, CAUSE HE CARES FOR YOU.

My husband filed for divorce and told me on Monday that he had and i needed to sign. I DO NOT want a divorce and have been praying for restoration. I did not fuss with him but told him i loved him and was praying for God to heal us. I went and signed crying and begging God for him to block this divorce. BUT Praise God i did not react in anger to him and that is all because of the grace of God. Now my husband says he may NOT go sign and we don’t know what will happen. I am doing my best to just let God handle this. If the divorce goes happens I know God has a plan and purpose.

Life has been rough for me these past 2 years. My husband and I got married and soon after he went in for his first back surgery. Everything seemed to be healing well. Then he fell and broke a screw. Another MRI and X-ray showed he wasn’t fusing so rthey had to go in again. This time they had to go in from the front and the back. He started healing from that then found out he had a broken tail bone. All while this was going on my job was slowing down greatly. I work in a dispatch office that primarily does work in the oilfields. I am the soul provider in our household and because of the industry I have lost most of my overtime. We are barely surviving right now financially and my company is getting ready to do layoffs the first part of Feb. needless to say it has been an extremely difficult time. I have never been in such a stressful position before and there have been countless times I go into freak out moad. However, my focus and prayer during this time has been for contentment in all situations. In past years I would have reactly very poorly and would come home very angry or depressed. I can still have those days but they are getting fewer. I am learning the importance of staying in the word of God, prayer, and leaning on my friends for support.

Last night I completed one project I had been struggling with all weekend to accomplish. No I did didn’t get everything on my to-do list completed, but I did achieve that small victory! Thank you for sharing your story because I often beat myself up about everything I did not get done rather than looking at the victory in what I did!

Have been having my spiritual daughter stay with me all the time trying to convince her to get help. She kept flatly refusing and the situation grew worse day by day, finally I knew I had to show tough love so when she ran outside early morning screaming, cursing, in the middle of street several people called the police when they showed up I told them she was gravely ill but refused help. At that point they only wanted her to calm down which she did, however I told her she could no longer stay with me because she needed to get help. She got angry with me and packed her bag and then hurled all kinds of evil things and lies at me. But I calmly and lovingly told her that she could come back in case of an emergency and I loved her and only wanted the best for her. It hurt my heart to force her to leave but it was the best thing because hours later the police called and said they had admitted her to the hospital. Halleleujah, she is now getting the help she needs.

Right after Christmas we started to have things break and/or fall apart. Our coffe maker a fan along with a hair dryer. Our very old convertible was leaking making it almost impossible to drive to the excessive ran we were receiving. And thanks to the rain we realize we had a leak In the roof (3 we later found out) along with water coming in the basement We did just what you were saying. We just thanked the Lord that none of this surprised him and He would take care of us. Then we had an outlet fire up smoke and all. We lost all but one plug In the kitchen! With a huge extension cord we made sure to keep the refrigerator going Your message is so spot on !! Thank you.

I’m raising 2 grandsons with help from their aunt. Sometimes I want to throttle them. But God has changed me so much from the mother I was when raising my girls. I wasn’t a bad mother, but I was very strict, no nonsense, black & white, my way mother. So with my grandsons it has been different. But I still enforce the rules we have. Monday we argued most of the afternoon and evening till bedtime. Over something his dad had told him to do when he brought him home sunday. He is not my son.and in the past we would’ve had words. Thank God I held my tongue. Yesterday I made up my mind before school let out they could play outside and play football if our friend from church came to play. Guess what? No fussing and arguing. Boys had fun and were happy. Thank you God for teaching me to choose my battles. The one Monday wasn’t worth the trouble .

Well, it was over a week ago, my husband received the results of a biopsy after removal of a mole in his cheek. It turned out it that there were some bad cells. Its scary, it’s true. But I have somehow managed to have my eyes fixed on the cross and not breakdown. I have managed to remain calmed while doing the specialist appointment and insurance arrangements for the Mohs surgery they said he needs. Also, to encourage my husband and reassure him that Jesus is in this mix. But yes, I want to cry, I want to yell, I want to run. Sorry for my grammar imperfections. Love you Sharon, thank you for all your encouragement, your books, your blogs. It helps A LOT.

This REALLY blessed me. I’m a SAHM of a 2 year old and a 9 month old. I am in the process of Sleep Training the 9 month old Potty training the 2 year old and also coming up with a day schedule to help my daughter got ready for preschool. And I’m married to a neat freak so attempting to keep the house clean in the midst of all that is very overwhelming. Well last night the sleep training didn’t go too good and I ended up over sleeping which made me late to make to start my Daughter on her preschool homeschooling day and it just threw me completely off. I took a breath to pray and asked God to help me make the rest of the day great which is not my normal response and reading this Im.going to celebrate NOT having a complete meltdown and throwing away the whole day in frustration. Thank You.

HI, the other day took a elderly friend to the movies didn’t want to do it but knew she would enjoy the movie as she is virtually housebound she is very slow and we live a distance away so it means being patient so glad I did she enjoyed her outing and I enjoyed her company and the movie ODDBALL was fantastic

Hi Sharon…my tiny victory was last night when I left work at 5:30 hoping to get home within the hour when it actually took 2 hrs, I did not pout, I rolled my windows down and had my Christian radio station on K-Love and sang and thanked God for all my blessings. Traffic crawled at a snail’s pace, but I didn’t even notice, I was calm, cool and collective. When I got home, I took my children to Crackel Barrel for dinner as a treat to me and them (lol)…I was very proud of myself, I usually have anxiety attacks wanting to jump out of my car and run – but last night it did not happen – or should I say, I did not allow it to happen. Txu!!!

It’s a true sign I need to lighten up on myself when I’m struggling to find something I did to celebrate. Thank you for this well-timed message. I’m moved by how many of us Christian women need to hear this. I did come up with this–I chose not to continue an argument (with a car dealer!!) and I started a family blog in honor of my father’s 75th birthday as a place to collect family stories.

My very-helpful-but-oh-so-BOSSY coworker really got on my nerves today with her bossiness, but she will never know that. I’ve smiled and nodded my head. Maybe she’s just having a bad day herself. I could’ve come up with some snarky remarks and let her know that she’s not my boss, but no…I’m a daughter of the KING of kings, so I’m rising above! 🙂

I home school our three children, ages 9,10, and 13. This week has been a very challenging week so far and it’s only Wednesday! I was trying to get everyone settled down and focused on lessons, but they were just not having it. I tried to let them ease into at first but one of them would start picking at the other and it just escalated from there. Instead of completely losing my mind and getting upset at the situation, I just separated them in different areas of the dining room and living room and set them up with reading assignments. I could have broken down and hollered or just sat there and cried from utter frustration, but I diffused the situation with zero tears and no meltdowns from anyone including myself.

My husband was upset that the church check he’d already written had gone missing. It was time to go out the door, but the tithe envelope was nowhere to be found, and he was getting steamier by the minute. I kept my cool, knowing the check had to be somewhere, and that if we couldn’t find it, we could always put it in next week. I checked one Bible, but it wasn’t there. I picked up a different Bible to go out the door, and there was the check, tucked right inside the front cover. Thank you, Lord! Frantic was not my middle name that day.

I have a co-worker who has spread lies about me and my family for years. Recently this person had a death in their family. The Lord helped me to sincerely express my sympathy and to genuinely pray for them and their family.

I just LOVE your devotions. You make me laugh, cry, think, celebrate that aha moment…I read your devos and hear you speaking it. They always feel so personal – like you are saying it directly to me. I needed this today.

I hope to hear you speak in person one day and to meet you and give you a big hug. You have been a “friend” for years.

My husband passed away in November and I can not afford my home on my income so it is up for sale. I had an offer on it but is was way below asking price which upset me. That evening as I was laying in bed I talked to the Lord and told him that this was in his hands and that his direction was important to me.
Today the couple have decided not to buy, I thank the Lord and I know he has a plan for me, I trust him.
I did not fret as we countered back and forth as I know I would have before. I will wait on him and his bringing in an offer that will work for both the buyer and I, Lord bless this home with all your love and protection, bring this home your amazing peace and for the people to come to know of your love, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

When this year starts, i was reflecting on last year’s challenges for two weeks not going for
Sunday services. Then the third Sunday of the month i just decided to resume my walk of
faith as normal. When i reached the church compound; i heard the praising songs.
The song says,’ i am thanking God because He loved me’. When i heard that song, it filled
my heart with joy and thanking-giving. I couldn’t keep it, till i have to go in-front and dance –
that serious dance of joy. Celebrate the joy for loving me by my creator.

Oh (sigh). I attended a required meeting. It wasn’t well-planned or well-presented. Afterwards there was much group grumbling. However, rather than join the chorus, I spoke privately to someone of influence and offered support materials that might help. I channeled my frustration into helping the situation rather than harping. Follow-up meeting today.

Thank you for such an encouraging post. Spent a challenging day in first grade substitute teaching. Even when 2 students were licking the bottom of their chair legs, I did not raise my voice when I warned them about the deadliness of germs. The entire day was one big adventure. Technology glitches, and children who struggled mightily with self control issues—like me—but I left with a smile on my face. TIRED! But I was smiling…:)

Monday morning I overslept and missed a meeting. The remainder of the day my co-worker gave me a hard time about it, and was making sarcastic remarks. Despite my frustration, I persevered and did not cry out of frustration. When I realized that victory, I stopped and patted myself on the back and thanked God for helping me push through!

I have a very difficult relationship with a co-worker who is going through a very hard family time right now. I chose to hug her, tell her I’m praying for her, and encourage her rather than just ignore that it was happening and not speak…as she has done to me many times. I felt so much better and she received it very warmly. we are already relating better. Praise God for that small victory!

My daughter is in the process of deciding on a college. She got some very upsetting and unsettling news concerning one of the schools she was accepted to- the coach that recruited her will not allow her to wait to make a decision any longer and told her she was moving on. To watch your child in pain, wrestling with fear, rejection, uncertainty is so upsetting. I hugged her, told her it will work out instead of breaking down myself. I sent her deuteronomy 31:8 today to encourage her. And no panic attack for me. Small victory.

…reading this makes me feel celebrating … A workaholic sister like me easily snaps at my younger brother when he forgets something I strictly remind him to bring on our way to my clinic…destroying my calm day…Until 1 day , I realized , of all the patients/people I mingle with…it’s my family first that I need to wear a longer shoelace of patience …and on our next clinic schedule, as expected my brother forgot to bring blood sugar strips expected by my patients …I simultaneously closed my eyes and my mouth…AND IT FELT GREAT, and actually made me smile the whole clinic hours…it was just last week and reading this now makes me feel celebrating more!!! Thank you ma’am!

I was raised by a yeller, I became a yeller. I yelled all the time! It seemed to be the only way anyone would hear me. But recently I’ve stopped. Cold turkey. I just don’t yell. I may be angry, but I don’t yell. Instead, I try to breath and talk. This week, my son had a melt down over a video game. He nearly threw his controller and game. I calmly walked to him, got in his way and sent him to his room. A few minutes later, he came and apologized and we talked it out instead of me yelling. Ah…it felt good!

So true Tammie…..as I raised my children God taught me many things. One thing was…that we do not need to yell…..When we yell it is satan who is victorious…..our Heavenly Father gave us the authority over our children…..He showed me that when I was calm and firm my children would listen more…..He reminded me in His teaching Be still and know that I AM God…that I did not need to yell….When I gave Him glory in the way I was….I was more victorious…..He is such a loving God……Yes I felt good also when I remained calm…. God bless my friend.

Dear Sharon,
Thank you so much for your blog…..God knew I needed those words….You see I am in a very stressful job at the moment and I have been trying to overcome the stress forgetting to talk with my Heavenly Father…..I am over judgemental of myself for of my weaknesses. and I do not celebrate my victories enough though they may be small….. I ask His forgiveness for forgetting Him and trying to be victorious on my own……Just that I am healthy and alive ….just that I have a loving husband and 5 beautiful children…..I have many reasons to celebrate….to celebrate Gods love…..I thank you .I thank my Heavenly Father…I really needed to be reminded not to focus on the negative in my life..Gods blessings are greater.

My husband died last year and his family has totally stop communicating with me. I was so angry and upset with them however, yesterday I prayed for them God to forgive them for the hurt and pain that they have caused me when what I really wanted to do was slap someone. God is faithful in that He loves me not matter what and His love for me did not die with my husband.

I am here thanking God for giving my peace. I use to let the disappointment of this life affect my happiness but when my son dad died when I was just 6 weeks pregnant back in 2000 and I went into depression I promised myself to no longer worry as i pulled myself together and thank God for the opportunity to have meet this man and even though he has died there is still something and someone to be joyful about I was going to be a mom. My son is now 14 years of age. I try to be joyful in any situation as being sad wont cause any change. Be bless you all

I was angry about a commitment my husband made, which included me, without asking me. I had been looking forward to spending a whole weekend with him since he travels extensively for work. He is gone weeks at a time with only a day home every couple of weeks. I was upset and asked him to please not make commitments without talking to me first and he apologized and understood how that was wrong. Then I prayed and asked God to intervene in some way and to help me have a good attitude and not to be resentful about having to spend our weekend dealing with someone else’s issues.
As it turned out, the weekend commitment was cancelled and we got to spend a much needed weekend alone.
When my husband called to tell me about the change in plans..I smiled and looked up and said “thank you Father for giving me the desires of my heart.” I knew at that moment that God had intervened and worked it out for me.

EXCELLENT!!
If we claim to have Faith- then we need to enact our faith by trusting Gods direction for our healing and advancement. We need to accept His guidance in overcoming our moods, our fears and broken pieces. We need to take steps to improve. Believing means nothing if we are not seeking to grow and to be of use in His kingdom. Faith should empower us, not just be to have listening ear for our woes. <3

Hi Sharon,
I needed to hear this today. My whole life seems to be on pause right now so could relate to your feeling of waiting for repairs. I take this as God’s word to me to celebrate the victories and let it go about the losses from over the years.
Blessings to you.

My husband was letting me know that a bill was late and needed to be payed. I told him I would take care of it. I had a full day of delivering eggs and feed before work. I got everything delivered, the bill payed and was only 2 minutes late for work. In the past I would have been upset with my husband for pointing out the bill was not payed, having to squeeze it into my busy schedule and for being late for work. God gave me what I needed to get the things done that I needed to that day.

I came back home after myself my 22, yr old daughter and 17,10,9,6(7) yr olds
We rent 2 rooms out of a house that sublets only. We’ve been experiencing people coming in late to rent a room for a few days on all kinds of substances and the kids wner does not care. We got furniture and TV, entertainment center to.make it more a Home. I cook and invite those who stay to enjoy meals with us as The Lord has placed in my heart to do. I have been threatened by the woman countless times that is ” managing” but do not revile back. Well, when we came in the locked front door we were met with a baren home. All the furniture and kids finally TV had all been removed while we were out. The manager came and stole it all. I calmly stayed in control of the Holy Spirit at that moment, knowing all lights were on Me. My children at that moment needed to see Faith at work! Now is the time when the Word had to be put into practice for all those in the room to see! I just said, well, what is a blessing to us has become a curse to the one who stole it from the children of God and The Lord is going to bless us with better and a better home too! My children have not once complained!!!!! I thank and praise The Lord for what he is doing in My life and letting me see Christ at work in My children! God is truly able to cause all grace to abound towards us! And The Peace that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord!!!
Very real story!
No police called. We have chosen to pray and trust The Lord instead!

Hi Sharon, You’re right, this is not a heart-rending blog but it still made me teary-eyed. It hit home. Just been realizing I’m being so down on myself when I have a lot to celebrate for. Praise God for the reminder.

Hey Sharon, I had à very feel sorry for myself day a couple of days ago which is not unusual for me. The joy in that one bad day and the blog, is that since I’ve been giving more of my controlling nature over to God I don’t have as many bad days as I once did. I’m talking bunches. Just smiling at this moment because I felt thàt wonderful tug at my heart from the holy spirit. My God is an awesome God!